I read the news today, oh boy

William Shaw, an award-winning pop-culture journalist, does a standout job with his debut novel, She’s Leaving Home. This British crime thriller has a compelling whodunit plot staged in ’60s London, rampant with racism, sexism and an ever-growing counterculture of groupies clinging to the belief that love is all you need.

The end of childhood comes with a bang

There comes a time in every life when childhood is placed firmly in the past and the future must be faced with the burgeoning wisdom of adulthood. But as Frank Drum learns in William Kent Krueger’s latest novel, Ordinary Grace, the price one often pays for this kind of wisdom is the loss of something infinitely more precious.For Frank and his brother Jake, sons of the local minister, the...

7 questions with . . . William Landay

Whodunit columnist Bruce Tierney reads more than his share of creepy books, so when he says a novel is sure to be "one of the most disturbing books of the year," he means it. Defending Jacob, the third novel from former assistant district attorney William Landay, is our February 2012 Mystery of the Month. This is one book you won't...

Well Read Column by Robert Weibezahl

William Boyd has a thing for outsiders, be it the genteel Englishman adrift among rednecks in the American South in Stars and Bars, the young woman in self-imposed African exile in Brazzaville Beach or the Russian recruited as a British spy in the Costa Award-winner Restless. In his new novel, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Boyd has crafted a persuasive story about a singular kind of outsider, a man...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

Some places seem to feed on violence. The currents run barely under the surface, seeking a weak spot at which to break through. Two hundred years ago, Red Knife, Minnesota, was the scene of a bloody battle between warring tribes of Ojibwe and Dakota. Now it is the site of a school, but that will in no way protect it from the centuries-old legacy of bloodshed. Cork O'Connor, ex-police chief,...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

While we should be duly impressed with Archer Mayor's 19 Joe Gunther novels, it must be noted that William G. Tapply has penned no fewer than 24 novels featuring Boston attorney Brady Coyne. His latest, Hell Bent, reintroduces a ghost from Coyne's past, old flame Alex Sinclair, whom he has not seen in the seven years following their rather acrimonious split. She has not paid the visit...

Audio Column by Sukey Howard

During the summer of 1976, Ruth, a single mother living and teaching in Oxford, discovers that her very English mother, Sally, is really a Russian emigree who had been a spy for the British during WWII. Restless, William Boyd's latest, explores these revelations and their impact with unerring skill. A gripping tale of espionage, love and betrayal, it's also the story of a mother and daughter...

Well Read Column by Robert Weibezahl

The British have a way with espionage. Think John Le CarrÅ, Eric Ambler, or, master of them all, Graham Greene. For that matter, think of the real thing: Burgess, Philby and MacLean. The moral ambiguity inherent in cloak-and-dagger scenarios seems tailor-made for the small, once-powerful island nation stubbornly perched on the edge of a larger, menacing Europe. The accomplished English (though...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

You might remember the line about a newly acquired tattoo from Jimmy Buffett's classic '70s tune, Margaritaville. After a self-described hell of a night, Philadelphia lawyer Victor Carl will identify with Buffett's experience more than most. Awakening with a stinging pain in his chest, Carl discovers (to his immense surprise and chagrin) a classic-style tattoo, a heart and flowers, entwined by...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

A tip of the hat and the November Tip of the Ice Pick Award go to veteran author William G. Tapply for Shadow of Death, the latest in his superb series featuring Boston attorney Brady Coyne. Hired by a political kingmaker to conduct a quiet inquiry into the affairs of the husband of a prominent senatorial candidate, Coyne enlists the aid of a trusted PI friend. When the investigator is...